At the end of the twenty one months, there’s a different aura to Chanyeol when he strides out of his base with broader shoulders, a wiser gaze and a backpack full of handwritten letters. He’s welcomed by his friends and family and although he’d always thought that when this day comes, a particular girl from Vancouver would be the first one to see welcome him back to society with a warm hug, priorities have changed so instead, Chanyeol reaches for the phone in Soojung’s hand to greet his special Vancouver girl who now resides in Berkeley, California and completely forgets everyone else around him.

In all the years that Seungwan and Chanyeol have known eachother, time has always played a big factor but what they initially thought would be a short twenty one months turns into nearly four years. Summer after summer passes along with more missed timings. They meet through frequent video calls and daily text messages but besides that they’ve begun to live separate lives in separate countries. While Seungwan’s trying to live her university life to the fullest in Berkeley, Chanyeol’s attending business meetings on top of his classes and attending events in the evening as the future hope and face of Shinhwa Corp. When the sun is setting in Seungwan’s horizon, it’s rising in Chanyeol’s.

Four summers have passed before they’re finally in the same horizon. There’s a bouquet of flowers in Chanyeol’s hands as he makes his way through the bustling crowd with many of them in matching graduation gowns. In the chaos, he spots her first but it doesn’t even take her a second to find his gaze. She’s still the Seungwan he remembers but just a tad bit wiser and older now. He can tell she’s more than surprised to see him because he said nothing about coming to her commencement but that was part of his plan.

“Congratulations,” he grins as he slides the flowers over to her hands. She’s looking at him with so much awe and disbelief but he finds it cute. “I told you didn’t I, that’d get a lot hotter the next time you see me.”

Seungwan breaks out of her trance and scoffs. “Wow.” He breaks out into a playful laugh and she nudges him in the arm. “Thanks for coming though.”

“Of course,” he teases with a smirk. “What find of a fiance would I be for missing out on your one in a lifetime commencement ceremony.”

Turning to him with a sharp glare, Seungwan groans because Chanyeol tends to hold grudges and he still hasn’t gotten over the fact that she had to pull out at the last minute to his commencement. “Hey! I had an important conference to attend that weekend! You can’t hold this against me forever.”

With his arms behind his back, he leans forward so closely that if Seungwan wasn’t leaning back slightly, their noses would’ve touched. “But what if I want to? I mean, we are going to spend an entire lifetime together starting in two months.”

Seungwan’s eyes widen at his statement and she gasps loudly as he draws back. “T-two months?”

Chanyeol answers her question with a nod and gently tucks a piece of her hair back before he snakes his arms around her shoulder to bring her in closer. “They’re announcing our engagement next weekend at the summit along with the commergence of the two companies. My gosh are they impatient.”

Seungwan turns from Chanyeol to their parents out in the far distance and scoffs. “They couldn’t wait for this day to come any faster could they.” She heaves a knowing sigh and Chanyeol gives her shoulder a quick squeeze before she returns her gaze to him. “They could’ve at least given me another week to be the biggest hoe I possibly could before settling down, don’t you think?”

His eyes are sharp when he spins to her and Seungwan quickly looks away as she tries to snake out of his hold but he hooks onto the hem of her graduation gown and drags her back to place. “You don’t think Kris filled me in on all the boys he caught you making out with in the corner of his house parties?”

She coughs and clears before straightening herself out. “You’re talking as if you weren’t taking President Park’s daughter Rosé out on luxurious dates in the Alps.”

Chanyeol releases a chortle and folds his arms across his chest. “That was a business retreat and you know that because I went on your behalf! I was basically babysitting her!”

Seungwan stands her ground despite the vast height difference between them. “Did you forget about Im Jinah? Your favorite campus Noona?” He chokes and Seungwan smirks. “Oh and we can’t forget Sunbin either because Sehun loved telling me about how much you simply adored her and sought her out at every single event.”

“Dammit Sehun,” Chanyeol mutters under his breath before it dawns on him what’s actually happening at this very moment. His expression changes and he swivels back to Seungwan with a playful glint in his eyes. “Did we just have our first jealousy fit?”

She makes a horrid expression at him. “Me? Jealous? As if.” She scoffs and sticks her tongue out at him before stomping away towards her family.

///

Before Seungwan could even get settled back in Vancouver, she’s shipped off to the Hamptons along with Chanyeol to help put the finishing touches on the Summit their parents are preparing along with their surprise engagement. A few days following their arrival, their friends finally arrived and that was quite interesting. Right off the bat, the whole entire universe could tell that Junmyeon had fallen head over heels in love with Irene the moment his eyes landed on her. He’d seen her through photos and what not and of course he’s heard about her beauty but never in a million years did he think she was this beautiful in person.

It was as if this friendship was made to happen because within minutes, everyone quickly warmed up to one another and soon enough, there was only laughter filling up the backyard. While Junmyeon was busy trying to convince Irene to love him back, Sehun couldn’t help but keep his eyes on cat eyed Seulgi from across the yard. There was a particular reason behind it and as of right now, Sehun is the only one who knows why. He re-fills his glass of wine before starting across the yard towards Seulgi by the pool. She glances up at him slightly when he comes near and watches him take the empty chair next to her.

“You look like you could use some company.” He holds out his glass towards her and she eyes him for a moment before clinking her glass with his.

“What makes you think that?” Seulgi asks him after taking a small sip of her red wine.

Sehun gives her a small smile. “I don’t know, maybe because you’re just sitting all alone, swirling your glass of wine as you’re staring off into this pool.”

She chuckles lightly. “I was… thinking.”

He tilts his head curiously and leans over to place his elbow on his knees. “A penny for your thoughts?”

Seulgi purses her lips as she lifts her gaze up to Seungwan and Chanyeol who were laughing over something by the firepit at the opposite end of the pool. “We all knew about this marriage since we were children. Now that we’re all adults and it’s actually happening… I’m so anxious and it’s not even me.”

She turns to Sehun but his eyes are locked on his swirling wine glass like he’s swirling his deepest darkest secrets.

“I just want her to be happy,” Seulgi sighs.

“Would you do it if it was you?” Sehun asks and for some ominous reason, Seulgi’s belly does a large flop. “If your parents were to set you up with someone tomorrow, would you go against it?”

“You mean when?” Seulgi grins as she leans back against her lawn chair. “In the world that you and I grew up in, was there ever really an option for us to go against anything?”

Sehun lightly scoffs at her question that comes across more as a statement. “So you’d just marry this stranger and call it a day?”

She places her glass on the glass table between them and looks him in the eye. “Love doesn’t exist in our world, Sehun. Although some people have found the few exceptions, all I wish for is that other person to be a good person. My parents owe me at least that much, don’t you think?”

He begins to wonder if she’s somehow found out about his little secret as they’re staring at one another, eye to eye. After a few silent seconds, a corner of his mouth curls into the slightest amused grin before he slowly rises from his seat.

“Okay,” Sehun nods once. “Well, I just thought I’d let you know, I’m a good person.”

Seulgi looks up as he Sehun is walking away and the ominous feeling in her stomach nearly triples but instead of probing him some more, she chugs down the rest of her wine and brings her attention to the noisy boy of Chanyeol’s friend group. This gathering is a little lackluster for her and she thinks he can help her with some old fashion games.

///

The moon is high in the sky when Baekhyun and Seulgi are able to gather everyone to play a game of spin the bottle and it’s obvious very early on that the goal is to get Chanyeol and Seungwan no matter what. Junmyeon and Irene end up kissing about a handful of times through dares (but everyone knows it’s what they really wanted anyways) and Baekhyun has lipstick drawings all across his face before the bottle finally stops at Seungwan. Her eyes widen and she knows right away that she’s doomed when loud cheers erupt from their friends.

“New rule!” Baekhyun announces quickly. “When it lands on either Chanyeol or Seungwan, they can only do dares!”

“Hey!” Seungwan protests loudly. “That’s unfair!” She points at her friends. “You guys are supposed to be on my side!”

“There are no such things as friends when it comes to games,” Irene wiggles a finger at Seungwan. “What, are you afraid?”

“No,” Seungwan scoffs as she pretends not to notice Chanyeol’s eyes flickering up at her from across the circle. He already knows whatever dare she’s going to receive is going to involve him so might as well prepare himself for whatever it may be. “Nothing too stupid though, I’m getting engaged tomorrow.”

“Oh, we know,” Kyungsoo sneers excitedly as he gets up on his knees. “So I dare you,” he points at Chanyeol who doesn’t even react then at Seungwan. “And you,” Kyungsoo then points to the nearest closet. “SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!”

“I don’t know what they think they’re achieving by doing this,” Chanyeol sighs the moment Yeri slams the closet door shut in his face. He turns around to face Seungwan and she shrugs at him. Just then something comes sliding in under the door and stops when it lightly taps Seungwan’s foots. She slowly raises her blank gaze up from the on the floor to Chanyeol who is still blinking at it. So that’s what they’re trying to achieve. Judging from the sinister laughter outside the door, they can tell who exactly slid it in: Byun Baekhyun.

“How disappointing.” Chanyeol reaches down to pick it up before scoffing. “The size is obviously too small.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter